The present invention involves the field of medical devices. More particularly, it involves the field of percussive medical devices used as chiropractic adjustment tools used to move bones and relieve muscle spasms and stress.
Percussion is a new treatment modality for those who suffer from musculoskeletal pain and myofascial trigger syndrome. It is a non-surgical, non-invasive procedure that may serve as a therapeutic alternative to trigger point and epidural injections or be used when other treatments have failed. Performed on an outpatient basis, percussive treatment carries little or no risk and is relatively comfortable.
As is well-known in the chiropractic art, the spines or other bones of humans sometimes go out of alignment or are otherwise mis-adjusted. This can lead to discomfort and additional physical symptoms. In such cases an adjustment of the spine or other bone to a healthy alignment can have substantial therapeutic effects.
Several attempts have been made to provide hand-held or other small devices to assist in adjusting a patient""s spine or other bone by the use of impacts. However, each of these devices provide limited force, are subject to failure, and have limited application and adjustability.
Needed in the field is a multiple impact device with easily adjustable impact pressure and impact heads. Also needed is a device with increased power, and cooling to extend device life. The present invention is directed to these shortcomings in the prior art.
The present invention provides a chiropractic adjustment tool or tapper, which, generally, comprises a housing, with or without a handle and a motor or power source to drive an axially reciprocating rod. The reciprocating rod is disposed perpendicularly or near perpendicular to the handle. One end of reciprocating rod extends from the housing and on the extended end is a impact head with a coupler for the mounting of one or more impact heads. The other end of the reciprocating rod has a spring pair assembly to permit the ready adjustment of impact force and axial travel of the reciprocating rod.
A fan is affixed to the housing and air is used to cool the device with an inport and an outport on distal ends of the unit requiring air flow to transit heat generating components, including any motor, switches and circuitry.
The operation of the device is with a solenoid, or other motive force driving the reciprocating rod axially. The reciprocating rod is slideably mounted within the housing, transiting through the solenoid coil. The reciprocating rod is held in place by springs, affixed to the reciprocating rod to limit travel and to return the reciprocating rod to the neutral position between impacts. On activation, the reciprocating rod is accelerated axially by the solenoid. Mounted on the extended end of the reciprocating rod is one of a number of impact heads. An impact head is used to impact the patient""s body. When the solenoid is reactivated, the reciprocating rod is again accelerated toward the patient""s body. A typical rate of impact is twelve impacts per second. Both the speed and the force of impact are adjustable to provide optimal therapeutic effects. In a preferred embodiment, the travel and force of impact of the reciprocating rod is adjusted by adjusting the compression of the spring pair.
Improvement over the prior art is found in the reduction of the mechanical moving parts of the device, the use of the spring pair for adjusting impact force, the improved cooling of the device and the coupler to permit the use of multiple and adjustable impact heads.
Though the device may be used in a manner that provides continuous pressure punctuated by impacts, another improvement over the prior art is the use of an impact assembly that permits an impact head to provide instantaneous force without durational pressure. This is accomplished through the use of an accelerated reciprocating rod that is permitted to bounce or recoil off of the patient, providing impact force without pressure of any duration. This is advantageous as pressure is painful and increases bruising.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. In the drawings, reference numbers refer to like parts through the several views.